Chapter 31: Framing Others

Chapter 31: Framing Others

Jiang Deshun said that the pouch containing the dirty items was found in her inner chamber,

Every day, when she went to pay respects to the Empress, Yunsong would meticulously clean her inner chamber. It was impossible for the pouch to remain hidden there unnoticed for days.

Therefore, the pouch must have been placed in her palace today.

Today, upon hearing the news of her promotion by Changzai, nearly all the consorts of the palace sent gifts.

The Empress led the gesture, with Chenfei, Yunfei, and Yingfei sending their maids with presents. Song Zhao only received them in the outer hall.

Consort Yao encountered Song Zhao in the courtyard early in the morning and presented her gift there, never even setting foot in the outer hall of the west side.

As for Consort Hui, with her childlike nature and lack of savvy in courting favor, she didn’t bother to send a gift to Song Zhao at all.

Thus, the only ones who entered the inner chamber today were Li Changzai, Xiao Changzai, Liu Changzai, and Consort Shu.

Consort Shu, carrying a steadily growing child with only two months until delivery, was more anxious about her unborn child than anyone else. Naturally, she wouldn't risk her own child's life just to frame Song Zhao.

The wild ginseng, clearly, had been tampered with before it was delivered to Consort Shu's palace.

Xiao Changzai and Liu Changzai had no opportunity to come into contact with it.

After much deliberation, the only person with both motive and opportunity was Li Changzai.

The daily menu of Consort Shu, if someone was intent on finding out, wasn’t hard to investigate.

Wild ginseng is a treasured item, and Consort Shu, caring deeply for her heir in the womb, would not overlook such a supplement.

So, as long as Li Changzai knew when ginseng would be included in Consort Shu’s diet, she could plant the prepared ‘dirty item’ in Song Zhao’s palace to frame her.

Song Zhao, with a cold glint in her eyes, peered through the latticed window at Li Changzai, who was still ranting in the courtyard.

She had underestimated her before; Li Changzai was capable of devising such a cunning plan to set her up,

Song Zhao idly plucked the petals off a chrysanthemum on the small table, one by one, leaving only the bare stem. A cold smile curled her lips as she suddenly uprooted it, sniffed it gently, and murmured to herself:

“It seems I need to find a way to ensure her bloom withers completely.”

Having said that, she casually threw the chrysanthemum into the incense burner to burn.

*

Over the following two days, Song Zhao didn’t touch any of the food sent from the imperial kitchen, returning everything untouched.

For the past two days, she sustained herself solely on water.

It wasn't until the third day that a palace maid brought her a basket of steamed buns.

Tasting one, she immediately recognized the handiwork of Yunsong.

She knew that being confined, Yunsong must be anxiously keeping tabs on her situation from outside.

Today’s buns must have cost Yunsong a hefty sum to bribe someone to deliver her handmade food.

After delivering the food to Song Zhao, the doors of the west side hall were shut again, with two palace maids stationed outside, forbidding anyone to approach.

Shortly after, they heard the sound of dishes shattering inside.

Upon entering, they saw Song Zhao had thrown the buns and the bamboo steamer to the floor,

“Take this away! Is this how the Imperial Kitchen treats me? Even though I am a noble lady and the Emperor hasn’t condemned me, dare they serve me spoiled food? Whom are they trying to disgrace?”

These two palace maids were only tasked with guarding Song Zhao. If she refused to eat, no one would force her.

So, they picked up the dirty buns from the floor and threw them into the swill bucket after exiting.

Yunsong had been following them closely when they disposed of the buns.

Yunsong naturally found this strange.

She knew her mistress could recognize her cooking, and even if she didn’t want to eat, there was no need for such a violent reaction.

After the palace maids left, she retrieved the buns from the swill bucket, breaking each one open,

And indeed, inside one of the buns, she found a rolled-up note.

The note bore only two words:

[Huo, Fu]

Yunshan didn’t understand the implications, but if Song Zhao was sending her messages at such a time, it must be a matter of great importance.

In the palace, she could only consult with Xiao Fuzi.

Therefore, not daring to delay, she hurriedly went to find Xiao Fuzi and showed him the note,

"I don't understand what the mistress means by this. Please help me figure it out."

Xiao Fuzi stared at the two characters on the note for a long time, then suddenly asked,

"You were present when Consort Shu miscarried. Did you hear them mention a herb called 'Huo Zi Cao' in the medicine that caused her miscarriage?"

Yunshan thought for a moment, then nodded, "Yes, I remember hearing about it. Is there something special about it?"

Xiao Fuzi explained, "That's it. Huo Zi Cao can intensify the effect of blood-activating and stasis-dispelling medicines to the extreme. But because of its specific effect, it's rarely used. Physicians hardly prescribe it for treatment, and few people buy it. I'm new in serving our mistress, and I don't know much. The servant brought into the palace by Lady Li, isn't her name Fu'er?"

Yunshan nodded vigorously, realizing, "Oh! I understand now! So the 'Fu' character written by the mistress refers to Fu'er?"

Xiao Fuzi replied, "That seems to be the case. The only evidence against our mistress is the sachet with the powder found in her chamber.

The imperial pharmacy keeps records of all medicine dispensed, so the harmful substance in that sachet couldn't have come from the palace. If His Majesty seeks to prove our mistress's innocence, he will surely send someone to search the capital's pharmacies to see who purchased those substances, especially Huo Zi Cao.

If I'm not mistaken, the mistress's intention is for us to quickly notify her father and warn the pharmacies in the capital in advance. We should give them Fu'er's portrait to recognize her, so when the palace investigators reach that pharmacy, they can identify Fu'er as the one who bought those blood-activating and stasis-dispelling herbs, thereby clearing our mistress of suspicion!"

Yunshan, not being particularly clever, but hearing Xiao Fuzi's logical explanation, felt excited that her mistress might overturn this desperate situation, and cried,

"I owe you so much. If I were alone, I would never have understood the mistress's intention and might have doomed her..."

"Stop crying," Xiao Fuzi wiped away her tears, "Our mistress now relies only on us. We must quickly find a way to send this message out of the palace!"